Latest single ‘The Master’ continues this trend, a song of languid warmth punctuated with peaks of searching intensity as Nico Paulo looks to others for ways to cope and thrive in a world so full of turmoil. “‘The Master’ is largely about control and mastery over one’s own feelings,” as she explains. “It’s an inquisitive song more than anything else as it looks to understand how people around you live and feel.” What emerges plays out with a nuanced tone, the vocals possessing both wonder and frustration at the apparent ability of others to hold themselves together amid upheaval, but ultimately serving as a vow to work towards such a state of being. “This song doesn’t tell us which way is better,” as Paulo concludes, “it simply looks to encourage belief and change in ourselves, curiosity and intrigue in what’s to come, and the power of being honest.”

And how come you never get mad?
Put your feelings outside
How come you never get angry?
How come you never get sad?
Oh I believe I can master that
Oh I believe I can

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Opener ‘Devotion’ serves as the perfect introduction, Maloney’s vocals deep and rich and almost mournful. However, the instrumentation is shot through with a brightness which conjures hope or wonder, an inextinguishable thread that strings together the entire album. The slow, folky yearning of ‘Highway Sketch’ is followed by ‘Exits’, a track lit bright and electric, reminiscent of the insistent emotion of Shearwater.

“If we can’t conquer the ends,
we’re slipping over time and time again,
’til nothing seems enough to satisfy the time left
[…]
the kindest thing that you could do
is tear it down and turn it into something new”

‘The Disenchanted Age’ returns to a more restrained brand of folk, a slow-motion sinuosity flicking behind Maloney’s croon, before the strikingly simple ‘No One Loves You (Like I Do)’ written by John Lennox, all acoustic guitar and Maloney’s velvety and yearning vocals. This is followed but the delicate intricacy of ‘Passing Phase’ which plays like VSF-fave Psalmships with an added dose of sunlight, before ‘No Warmth Against the Light’ brings a morose moment made cinematic with glorious strings and gliding piano. The cinematic edge continues into closer ‘Only Sometimes’, which again highlights Maloney’s ability to craft atmospheric arrangements, the vocal harmonies and gloomy grandeur capping off what is an unquestionably evocative album.

The Memory Game is out now and you can buy it from the Steve Maloney Bandcamp page.

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